Building Castles with Miss Swan
by mickeylex
Summary: Henry gets the idea to bring both his mothers to the beach. With Regina's aggression snowballing and Emma's guilt, the vacation away from the rest of Storybrooke turns out to be more than what they needed. But will Regina finally be able to flat out say what's been bothering her? Will Emma be able to forgive and be forgiven?
1. Chapter 1

**Genre: Angst, Family, Comfort, Romance, and More. **  
**Type: General**  
**Age: Teen and above (for now)**  
**Warnings: Mentions of abuse.**  
**Length: Medium (Undetermined)  
Description: Henry gets the idea to bring both his mothers to the beach. With Regina's aggression snowballing and Emma's guilt, the vacation away from the rest of Storybrooke turns out to be more than what they needed. But will Regina finally be able to flat out say what's been bothering her? Will Emma be able to forgive and be forgiven? **

* * *

_**Day One**_

It's Henry's idea. He thinks of it while he's brushing his teeth. First he's reaching for the molars with the toothbrush then he's suddenly got a big wicked grin on his face and his eyes are bright with the possibility that it just may work. He doesn't think about planning it out. Instead he takes the idea to his birth mother right away.

Emma's in the middle of tying her worn hiking boots when her bedroom door bursts open. It startles her to her feet and she sees a beaming Henry. "Jesus, kid! I could have been naked! Haven't you heard of knocking?"

He grimaces shortly, smiles apologetically, but ignores her. "We should go to the beach!"

Crumpled lines form in the Sheriff's forehead and she rubs it, confused. "I thought you wanted to spend the weekend hiking. Now you want to go to the beach? I gotta tell you kid, I'm not so confident you can make a decision to save your life."

"No," he rolls his eyes and plops himself down on her bed excitedly. "We should take Mom to the beach!"

"Regina?" Emma's jaw drops in a way that sounds like she's asking "say what now?"

He nods enthusiastically. "Yeah! She used to take me all the time when I was young! Well," he frowns momentarily. "When she had the time. We have a house down on the beach that we didn't use a lot but when we both had a few days off, she'd take me."

Emma drops down on the bed next to him, thoroughly confused. "You want to take your mom to this beach house?"

"I want _us_ to take her," he clarifies in a matter-of-fact tone that reminds the Sheriff so much of the former Mayor. "Ever since you and Snow came back from the Enchanted Forest she's been a little…"

"Bitchy," Emma supplies quietly but she knows Henry heard it because he gives her the same "Miss Swan" look of disgust she's received from Regina too many times to be proud of. She immediately apologizes.

"I was going to say moody." He continues, though hesitant now. "Or depressed."

The Sheriff contemplates this quietly. Regina didn't seem depressed. Moody? Hell yes. She was the epitome of bitch any time Emma, or anyone besides Henry of the Charming family, got within a hundred feet of her.

"You kind of forgot to invite her to dinner and though she didn't say anything I could see it hurt her." He says in a regretful tone that makes Emma think maybe he thinks he hurt his mom too. "Emma, my Mom has been really sad lately and I don't want her to be. Can we please take her to the beach? Maybe she'll remember not everyone in the world is unforgiving and out to get her."

Emma snorts. Because that's precisely what Storybrooke is. Unforgiving and out to get the Evil Queen. But Henry's too deep in guilt to realize that so she smiles softly at her son. "I'll think about it."

He beams. "Really?"

"Really, really." She smiles half-heartedly. "Until then, you still owe me a hike."

Henry nods then runs out of the room to retrieve his boots, leaving behind an actually guilty Emma. She'd been so worked up about returning to Storybrooke and appreciating being raised in this land, even though it meant she was separated from her parents. Its Henry she appreciates the most. Without the curse, she wouldn't have been sent here. She wouldn't have found Neal and she wouldn't have had Henry.

But she did notice Regina hadn't been herself, lately. It would be easy to blame her attitude on just being the Evil Queen but that wasn't it. Regina wasn't moody and distant because she was just evil. Which is something Emma debates with herself more than she needs to.

She thought it was because the curse was broken and now everyone had a reason to hate Regina that the former Mayor was cranky but of course Henry sees that it's not.

Maybe it was the dinner invitation…or the lack of one. After all, Regina did risk her own life to save Emma and Snow. That's not usually something villains do. Even when being begged by their eleven year old kid. The least they could have done was invited her to dinner no matter how awkward it would have been. They owed their lives to her.

In ways Emma doesn't understand, she feels like she still owes Regina her life. For a lot of things.

* * *

Since the curse was lifted, Regina has been forced to find different ways to make use of her time. Henry visits two days of the week and spends Sunday nights with her and she feels her entire existence has come to those three visits a week she gets from her son.

She wants to be angry that he has been taken away from her. And though on the surface, she actually is seething with loathe whenever Henry walks to the god awful eye-sore Miss Swan calls a car. And she's left alone to fume about it in her large home.

She gardens again. The first years of the curse, she nursed her tree and other plants just to give herself something to do. It wasn't until Gold suggested a child that Regina actually began to enjoy the new land.

She finds herself fuming again, rather colorfully, as she pulls out ridiculously stubborn weeds in her garden.

Damned that Miss Swan for taking her son.

Ten years she abandoned him by a choice that didn't have very much to do with her curse. None at all, the way Regina sees it. She could have been someone. She could have been a very talented Detective. Instead she was a brat and a bully and gave up all responsibility of her son.

Why was Henry so forgiving of Emma?

Didn't taking him in, unsuspecting of his relationship to the bane of her existence, count for anything?

She scowls. She hates Emma Swan and the other two idiots.

She's forced to stay away from all the other citizens. Not out of fear but because seeing anyone in this godforsaken town other than Henry makes her angry all over again and she doesn't want to be responsible for her actions. She doesn't want her son to look at her like he's afraid of her. She doesn't want to see the disappointed look in his eyes again.

She stays in solitude so her son will be proud of her.

She seethes with anger and regret and resentment but she does it because she's a mother and she would do anything for Henry.

It's not the healthiest of ways to cope with the loss of her son, the breaking of her curse, and being the most hated one in town but it's the only way she knows how to cope.

Regina hears familiar stomping and immediately recognizes the unbelievably and unattractively loud footsteps as the Sheriff.

"You're really beating up those flowers, Regina. I might need to ask them if they want to file a complaint against you." Emma has a writing pad and pen in her hands. She clicks the pen and smirks.

"Funny," Regina drawls sarcastically but doesn't turn around or otherwise show the Sheriff any attention.

"This is new," the blonde crouches down next to her. "Usually you're dressed to the nines."

Regina hums impassively.

"Not saying that you don't look good…" Emma says, lamely. "You look nice, actually." Her eyes trail over the former Mayor's short beige dress shorts and cotton white shirt that shows off her chest. It looks entirely too domestic for the former Mayor of the cursed town. "But you know, not that nice. I mean yeah that nice but not nice in a 'I want to take you to dinner' kind of way, though don't get me wrong I don't think you're unworthy of dinner. I mean-,"

Regina turns impatiently and sharply to the rambling fool. "Is there something I can help you with, Miss Swan?"

A look of tense determination crosses the blonde's features. "Yeah, actually there is."

When she doesn't continue, Regina lets out an irked sigh but peels her dirty gardening gloves off her hands and stands abruptly. "Very well. Would you like some lemonade?"

Emma looks surprised. "Sure,"

The brunette simply walks back into her home.

The blonde is still crouched down for a moment then follows almost nervously. When she finally steps into the large manor, she's hit with fresh cold air and a weird sense of familiarity. She closes the glass French doors behind her.

She turns to find Regina drinking a glass of iced tea. There's a glass pitcher of tea on the counter next to a pitcher of lemonade. Across the counter is Emma's glass.

"You didn't poison it, did you?" she jokes awkwardly before grabbing it anyway.

"Wouldn't that be a shame?" Regina smirks behind her glass. She puts away the full pitchers. "So what is it that I can do for you, Miss Swan? Perhaps you need a babysitter so you and that wolf can have a night of extracurricular activities? Or do you need me to save your mother's life again? Was once not enough for you Charming's? Have I not repaid my debt in full or is there still more I owe you?"

Emma's thankful she prepared herself for the all too common and not even remotely unpredictable bitter accusations Regina seems to be capable of. Still, a feeling of guilt stirs inside of her and she feels it burst when a look of pain crosses the other woman's features.

"I have a proposition for you. It's actually at the request of Henry."

At the mention of her son, Regina's sharp and aggravated features soften. "Henry?"

Emma nods. "Yeah. I have the weekend off and seeing as though his summer is coming to an end, he felt a little nostalgic. Wanted you to take him to the beach house you guys used to go to."

For a second Emma thinks she saw Regina's lips quiver remorsefully but then when she blinks the look is gone and the former Mayor is staring blankly at her.

"He wants to spend the weekend away with me?"

The Sheriff nods.

But for some reason it's hard for Regina to accept. Her eyes narrow in suspicion and accusation. "Did you talk him into this? I don't need your pity, Miss Swan. And if you're trying to get him out of your hair for the weekend so you can be alone, I'll have to respectfully welcome you to motherhood and ask you to leave me out of it."

Emma lets out a loud, frustrated sigh. "Jesus, Regina! You're impossible! It was _Henry's_ idea. He really freaking wanted it, alright? Honestly I'd rather stick to our original schedule for this weekend but he was really hell bent on getting you to the beach."

Regina doesn't seem to trust her completely but enough for the look of doubt to relegate to hesitancy.

"Does he really want to go with me?" there's a softness, almost childlike, whisper to her words that make Emma's heart break just a little inside because she's never heard the Evil Queen sound so innocent and insecure and desperate. A lump in her throat keeps her from saying anything so she nods.

Emma clears her throat. "One condition." She says with trepidation. She swallows thickly.

"What would that be?"

"He wants me to be there."

Regina takes a deep breath and visibly counts to ten in her head. "Then he doesn't want to be alone with me." She says through clenched teeth.

"Well, no. He doesn't. He wants to be around his family. His mothers."

"I'm his-," she cuts herself short and it surprises the Sheriff. For a year now, Regina would have no problem finishing that sentence. Maybe she's realized it's become a boring song that no one wants to listen to anymore. "Just so I have this correct, Henry would like me to join the two of you on this weekend together?" she comes around the island and Emma's eyes fall to the brunette's white and blue Nike running shoes. She wonders for a moment if the brunette is actually a runner. She tries to think back to a time she's seen Regina working out but comes up empty.

The Sheriff shakes her head of her thoughts. She feels like she's being tricked into a trap but nods anyway. "At the beach. That you two went to a lot. He wants you there, Regina."

"I'll think about it." She says inertly.

"Why? It's not like you've got a lot to do around here. And frankly, I feel you kind of owe me this. I put my ass on the line for you with the wraith-,"

Though she's much offended, Regina carefully puts her glass down and purses her lips thoughtfully. "You're right. I don't have very much to do anymore. I am no longer Mayor, though this town desperately needs leadership and authority. You as Sheriff should understand that better than anyone else. However, just because I have no political responsibilities and I'm debatably a criminal does not mean I am obligated to fulfill yours or anyone else's requests, Miss Swan. I have my own life to live now and I find that I rather enjoy being free of onuses. I like being able to sleep until a reasonable hour. I like staying awake until an ungodly hour. I like being free, Miss Swan. I refuse to be forced to spend a weekend with you and Henry while the two of you overlook me and have a delightful vacation together. That's an entirely cruel kind of chastisement for my crimes that I will not agree to. I'd rather be imprisoned."

"So, Sheriff, I will think about it. And I will let you know if I'm up for that sort of torture just yet. Though I believe by saving your collective ass, I have paid my debt to society."

Emma's momentarily taken aback and wonders how pissed off Regina has to be to use such foul language. Then she feels the other woman's hands on her back gently pushing her out of the house. Not in a violent way but in a gentle "I really need peace" kind of way that makes her feel guilty about intruding.

She's on the other side of the glass doors, looking back at the former Mayor.

"I'm sorry," she says quietly.

Regina just looks down. "Please go."

Emma does, although looking more sluggish than she had when she'd arrived.


	2. Chapter 2

In their usual booth at Granny's, Henry looks crestfallen when Emma tells him that his mother doesn't want to go. Although Regina didn't technically use those words, that's sure as hell what it sounded like when Emma was verbally getting her ass handed to her.

She even bought him a consolation "sorry, we tried" milkshake that he doesn't even drink.

"Did she say she doesn't want to go?" he looks at Emma with big brown eyes and she wonders how Regina ever said no to him about anything.

"Well," she contemplates how much of the conversation she wants to relay to him. He's already disappointed and hurt. No need to add insult, no matter how true, to injury. But she doesn't want to lie to him. "She didn't actually say no. But I get the sense she thinks I talked you into this and I'm doing it to hurt her."

Henry looks like Regina when he rolls his eyes.

"Listen kid, I don't think she's upset with you or anything. I'm sure she would love to spend time with you but she's just kind of hurt about everything right now. I mean it's like you said, she's hurt we didn't invite her to dinner that day and she's kind of lost trust in all of us."

That same guilty look from earlier crosses his face but he hides it immediately when Emma herself looks equally as, if not more, guilty.

"Any chance I can talk you into going with her by yourself? Are you afraid to be alone with her or something?"

He gives her a deadpan look. "I spend time alone with her all the time, Emma. Of course that's not what I'm afraid of. I just want to spend time with my moms." He says it in a way that sounds like "is that a crime?"

She wants to spend time with him too. But she doesn't want to spend time with Regina. Not because the former Mayor is so acrimonious, though that could easily be the reason, but because she always feels so conflicted when she's around Regina. She can never decide if she wants to thank Regina for the curse or loathe her for it and it's the most incompatible thing ever. So she always ends up saying something nice to the brunette then turning around and being a total bitch to her in the same breath.

Before she even broke the curse, far before she actually believed any of Henry's stories, she felt a sense of admiration for the Regina. She admired how efficacious the brunette was. She loved how utterly beautiful and put together Regina looked on a daily basis when all Emma could manage was the same three outfits and kinked hair.

She didn't hate Regina before. Sure, she didn't like her very much but she didn't hate her. But finding out the mother of her son cursed her entire family and was the reason she grew up without a mother kind of overshadowed all of the other feelings she had for Regina.

But Regina has never been a bad mother to Henry. Through countless hours of crying and disobedience, she's been a mother to him and that's something Emma has to respect and admire.

Despite the entire time hating her guts and wanting to slay her in a second if they had the chance, Regina still manages to be as acerbic and rancorous as ever and that's what makes her so utterly Regina. If most of those insults weren't directed at her, Emma might even be a little proud of the brunette. Hell, even though most of those insults are directed at her she's still proud.

"Okay." Emma decides suddenly, smacking her hand down on the table. "We're going to go back there and we're going to convince her to come with us." She glances at her watch. The sun is due to set in just an hour. "If we're lucky we can make it to the beach before nine."

"Really?!" Henry beams.

"Yeah kid. You wanted to spend this weekend with your family. She's your family." Her voice hardens to something authoritative in a mother-like fashion. "And you're going to convince her of that."

Henry agrees sincerely with a nod as he swallows thickly. "Okay, I will."

* * *

She's alone.

But she doesn't feel lonely.

Regina doesn't feel a lot these days. She feels angry. A lot. And occasionally, when in the presence of Henry, she feels love. Sometimes when she's around Emma she feels what she thinks guilt must feel like because she feels uneasy in her belly and something prickles behind her eyes. She gets the incessant feeling to apologize for crimes she's not sorry for. But she is sorry. She's terribly sorry when she sees Miss Swan attempt to look like she's fine and none of this newfound information about being from another land isn't driving her insane. She feels sorry but she never says anything.

Instead she adds a little more malice to her tone to hide the guilt and unspoken apologies. She hopes it drives Emma away. She hopes it keeps the Sheriff from attempting some twisted truce of a friendship between them. Because she doesn't want that. She's alone. And sometimes she may be lonely. But she doesn't want to be anything but that woman's bête noire.

The flames trapped in the fireplace lick at her skin and it's the only caress she's gotten in months since Graham. Though she's certain his touch wasn't as caressing or comforting as it was anxious and regretful.

She faces the fire in a way that makes it nearly unbearable to be near it on the already warm night in Storybrooke.

There's a small thick novel in her lap that she's pressed herself to read but has no interest in it. There's a protagonist that reminds her very much of the Sheriff and she finds herself rolling her eyes too often at the literature.

Regina pushes the glasses perked on her nose up a little and brings on of her knees to her chest while the other curls through the empty space of her bent leg and she places the book before her eyes in attempt to focus.

She can't say she feels disturbed when she hears her doorbell. She feels almost relieved but then there's a sense of dread that wells inside of her every time she has a visitor. A feeling of fear travels through her and she gets a thick lump in her throat.

She thinks, maybe, they've finally come to make her atone for her crimes.

When she opens the door, she sees a guilty but determined Sheriff staring back at her. However, she doesn't have time to chew the other woman out for pestering her again because she feels a pair of thin arms wrap around her waist and she finds the little boy her heart yearns for hugging her.

"Henry?" she whispers, surprised.

"Hi Mom." He says but his words are muffled by her silk chemise. When he pulls away, she ties the silk robe around herself, feeling exposed. "Come in," she ushers him inside. Emma waits at the door, tentatively. Regina relents when the blonde stares at her with big green eyes. "Very well. You too as well, Miss Swan."

"Thanks," Emma steps in without having to be told once more.

"Is there something wrong?" the brunette crosses her arms over her braless chest.

The blonde is too busy trying not to notice Regina's toned legs; she can't believe she missed them before, so Henry – oblivious to his mother's staring – speaks up. "Will you take me to the beach?"

Regina's brow crinkles and her arms tighten. "Henry," she says with a fond softness only reserved for the little boy. "I understand if you wish to relive your childhood memories. As I told Miss Swan before, I have no interest in spending the weekend with her. I am grateful and very touched that you would include me in such plans, but there are reasons a boy as young as yourself wouldn't understand, why I cannot go. If you'd like Miss Swan to take you, I will not be offended or upset."

He looks up at her for a moment then frowns in a way that reminds Regina of the way Emma sometimes looks at her. Like she doesn't understand. Regina resists the urge to snort because there are a lot of things Emma doesn't understand. About her. About their land. About Henry. About everything.

"I want you to go because you're my family," he says with so much earnest it makes her pulse flutter. "You're my Mom. And when I'm sad, you'll do anything to make me happy." A dark look flashes across her features because there are things she's done to keep him happy that he's not even aware of. But it dissolves into nothing before Henry even notices it.

"And I know that you've been sad. You're sad because your curse broke. You're sad because I live with Emma now. You're sad because you saved Snow White's life again. You're sad because we didn't invite you to dinner that day. I don't like it when you're sad, Mom. I don't know what to do but the beach used to make you happy."

Emma steps into the small atmosphere between Regina and Henry. "Come on, Regina. Do it for him." She expects Henry's other mother to glare at her or give her some look of resentment for intruding but the other woman just looks thoughtful for a moment before giving a small resigning nod.

"I'll go," she says. "But I refuse to go in that death trap you call a car. Even if it's only for a twenty minute drive."

Both Emma and Henry share the same excited and victorious smile.

"We can totally take your car," she agrees. "I don't even think mine has the space."

Henry hugs his mother's waist before shooting up the stairs to go pack.

Emma steps closer to the older woman like they've been friends for years. "I'm really glad you're doing this. This will be good for you…getting out of the house. Out of town."

"Do be aware, Miss Swan." Regina turns to her sharply and there's that look of resentment Emma has come to love. "I'm not doing this for myself. I'm doing this because you and my son cornered me into it and he knows I have a hard time turning him down now."

But the way Regina walks up the stairs, with a confidence Emma hasn't seen in the older woman in months now, she knows that deep down even Regina realizes she's needed this vacation.

She grins to herself before calling up the stairs. "Hey, guys! I'm going to go pack at my place! Come pick me up when you're all good to go!"

Henry calls down from his room. "Okay!"

And absolute silence from Regina.

For a moment Emma wonders if Regina will somehow talk him into leaving her behind but decides her son isn't so easily persuaded so she leaves with the hopes that she doesn't get excluded from this trip.


End file.
